Chapter Text
“So, little mermaid, what do you want to read today?”
Ajax never imagined that visiting a curious mermaid would become part of his routine, but it was. Although it didn’t seem like it, the eleventh crew member of the Tsaritsa’s pirate fleet had more secrets than ambitions.
Sometimes he felt tired of being the laughingstock of the Fatui fleet for being just a simple cabin boy, the youngest in the entire crew, and therefore, the least experienced. That’s why, when the pirates temporarily settled on land to gather supplies, Ajax visited an old friend to whom he owed a couple of favors.
After separating from the rest of the crew after mooring the ship at the dock, the red-haired pirate walked along the beach shore with an old children's book under his arm, waiting for that special "someone" to appear in the reflection on the horizon. Finally, the legendary creature jumped out of the water like a dolphin to catch his attention.
“Hey, there you are. Sorry for keeping you waiting,” he said, sitting on a rock near the water. She swam up to the point where her hands touched the dry sand, and her Maya blue-like tail shimmered with the reflection of the sun on her scales. The rising and falling tide kept her wet enough that the intense sunlight didn’t affect her too much.
Years ago, during Ajax's adolescence, a series of unfortunate coincidences led him to the ocean bottom where the lack of air made him see a massive whale capable of devouring the entire Liyue Sea. It was she, this strange girl, who saved him from drowning. From that day on, Ajax returned every day in search of the beautiful mermaid who had saved his life, discovering that this particular creature wasn’t as terrifying as the pirate legends claimed. In fact, this mermaid was quite curious, one who loved listening to the stories Ajax read to her.
“Oh, this is one of my favorites. I used to read it to my little sister when she was seven,” the cabin boy explained as his hands searched for the first page of the small book.
The blonde mermaid wasn’t one to speak much. Well, to be precise, she had never opened her mouth except to sing him a few melodies when she was far away from him. And even though he didn’t know her name, hearing her sweet voice from afar was more than enough.
She paid close attention to the children’s tale Ajax was reading. For a creature that lived deep in the ocean, the mermaid seemed to understand his language perfectly, her enthusiastic face proof of how much she enjoyed the stories from the snezhnayan pirate. Although Ajax didn’t easily show his emotions, his heart raced every time he witnessed his friend’s excitement, because that day’s story wasn’t a coincidence.
“So, the mermaid, hopelessly in love, decided to give the human a gift: a beautiful white flower that only grew near the mermaid’s kingdom. The prince was surprised and asked what it meant. ‘In my home, this flower means love,’ the mermaid replied.” Ajax paused his reading and glanced at his listener, who was slowly moving her tail beneath the thin layer of salty water. “Do those flowers exist in your world?” he asked.
She looked at him with her big amber eyes. As was her habit, she didn’t dare respond with words, but instead shook her head as if silently thinking. Quickly, her dazzling eyes opened wide with excitement, and without a second thought, she backed away and dove into the depths of the sea.
Ajax was stunned by her sudden disappearance. He wasn’t sure what to do or whether she would return, so he sat on the rock for a while longer, waiting. His friend didn’t reappear. It was getting late and his crew was surely setting sail that same night, so he had no choice but to leave before the sun set. He closed the storybook and stood up from the rock, a bit disappointed that he couldn’t say goodbye properly.
“Ajax!” The sound of the water stirring frantically stopped him just before he disappeared behind the large dunes of sand on the coast. She flapped her tail forcefully to get his attention, again. It was then that the pirate felt a strange and pleasant sensation when he heard the beautiful blonde creature call his name for the first time.
“You came back, little mermaid. It’s too late, I have to return to my people.”
“Ajax,” she insisted.
The snezhnayan walked to the shore and the girl reached out her arms. In her hands was a white flower with a single petal the same color as her tail, a soft, muted blue. The marine plant shone brighter than the sunset itself. Had she really taken that long just to find it?
“Inteyvat,” the creature said. “It means love.”
Her pronunciation was strange and a bit clumsy, but it sounded perfect to Ajax’s ears. She gently placed the immaculate flower in his palms and let him keep it. The pirate remained silent, mesmerized by the tangible beauty of the blonde-haired mermaid.
“Don’t lose it. Or the narwhal will eat you.” Leaving more questions than answers, she returned to the sea and vanished once more into the cold ocean waters.
That same night, when Tartaglia sailed the Liyue Sea again with his captain and the other ten crew members, he was sure he heard the cryptic song of his friend in the vast emptiness that surrounded him.
Next week, he would return with a new children’s story to read to her.